HELP - Unoccupied "Client" craft breaking Trigger

[breakneckPace]

I'm trying to set up a simple mission for my friends to join in the fun with me, where it's purely for some basics to teach them to get into the game.  I want to have some enemy aircraft flying around that they can go locate, but I don't want them to activate until the players have left a trigger zone that surrounds the airport.  (I imagine we'll be sitting on the tarmac for a bit running through the basic in's and out's of the jet and there's no need to risk the aerial targets running out of fuel while that happens)  For simplicity's sake, it's only when one of the units from the group leaves the trigger zone, no need to make it when all 3 players are out, since we SHOULD take off somewhat close to the same time.  So to me the setup for this seems relatively simple, here's what I've basically got happening:

 

<triggers> 1 once, no event.   <conditions> Part of Group out of zone - select zone surrounding airport  <actions> flag increase (1,1)

<triggers> 1 once, no event.   <conditions> Flag Equals (1,1)  <actions> group activate - aerial targets

 

seems somewhat straight forward but here's where a wrench gets tossed into the mix.  I've got 2 groups of jets we can occupy.  a set of F-18's and a set of F-16's  (depending on which one we're in the mood to fly)  so at any given point there's at least some unoccupied 'client' based craft.  It seems like this is breaking my trigger point.  I'm wondering if DCS sees the unoccupied craft and considers it on the map somewhere, but just not at its spawning point.  Does anyone know if there's some sort of setting I might be over looking that prevents DCS from 'spawning' at least in the data sense, the jet before someone occupies it?  

Just to make sure it was doing what I was describing I ran a test and had a client f-16 and a client f-18.  the trigger set up so the flag would go off when the f-16 group was outside the trigger zone (not both, just for testing sake)

when I start the mission and spawn in to the f-16, things work as they should and the enemy craft down activate 'till I've left the trigger zone.  

but if I start the mission and select the f-18 to spawn in, the flag immediately gets triggered and the enemy aircraft are activated.  

 

any clues as to what I might be doing wrong?  or do I need to venture down the path of scripting to actually achieve what I want?  Thanks in advance for the help!

[Rokkett]

The ME is working as expected.

 

When you spawn in the F-18, the ME looks for the F-16 -> which is not within the trigger zone, so by definition is outside the zone, which will immediately activate the trigger, even though the F-16 does not actually exist.

 

Perhaps if you add another modifier to the F-16 condition, it will not activate the trigger immediately

eg. F-16 outside of zone AND F-16 speed greater than 100 knots, it won't (hopefully) activate the trigger unless both conditions are met.

 

You will also have to create the same conditions for the F-18, so that when it leaves the zone and speed is greater than 100 knots, the same trigger is activated.